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Reddit moves to stop revenge porn and stolen photos

In an unusual turn for the company, but an expected trend for social-sharing sites moving forward, Reddit has decided to moderate nude-photos and ban could-be “revenge porn” from its site. The move shouldn’t surprise anyone, with California courts recently handing out tough punishments for webmasters of ‘Revenge Porn’ websites, all sites that allow users to upload photos containing nudity need to prepare their defense, and Reddit is no different. The company is installing safeguards to ready its own defenses, should anyone accuse them of allowing ‘Revenge Porn’ on their site.

Revenge Porn grew in popularity on the internet over the last few years, the trend is simple, with sites allowing users to upload pictures of exes without their consent, with the idea that it’s getting back at the person that wronged them. The illicit photos have become so popular that many actual porn-stars, or would be amateur adult-film stars, pose for photos and upload them to gain popularity on other sites. All under the guise that they were ‘stolen’. The real victims of Revenge Porn have much more harrowing stories, with some young-teens and adults committing suicide after their private photos were leaked among friends and the internet.

Last year dozens of celebrity photos were illegally stolen, then shared on Reddit, which is just one of the many popular user-driven content sites on the internet today. Now any photos or videos containing nudity or sexual acts, must be posted with the consent of the person in the photo. This won’t stop everyone from posting pictures the same way they did before, but it’s an added step that pushes the user into accepting that they had consent for the photos in question, and leaving Reddit in the clear. Just like with prior YouTube copy-write cases however, Reddit would have to prove that they are actively enforcing this rule, should they ever be accused of allowing Revenge Porn on their site.

“I really want to believe that as we enter the next ten years of Reddit life, essentially the most trafficked media site on the Internet, the opportunity here to set a standard for respecting the privacy of our users,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told The New York Times earlier today.